Vive la différence: Genders are mentally equal but unalike

Timothy Forester

Monday

Feb 20, 2012 at 12:01 AM

The article “With gender equity, everybody wins” in The Register-Guard’s Jan. 29 Commentary section focused on the equality of boys and girls in mathematical skills and performance. The article’s tone suggests there are no differences in the various skills that fuse to generate intelligence and its offspring, performance. Yet there are skills that are unique to each gender.

What do we know about the cognitive abilities of boys and girls? Was your grandmother right when she noted that third-grade boys and girls solved problems differently? Do girls have higher emotional intelligence? Do gender stereotypes serve any constructive purpose?

Laboratory and clinical analysis of intelligence reveals the following:

Females score better on speed of perception, mathematical calculation, identifying anomalies in pictures of several objects, fine motor coordination, and fluency of both ideas and words.

Boys and men tend to memorize landmarks faster, yet forget them with ease.

No significant differences have been found in tests of vocabulary, reasoning, depth of understanding or general intelligence.

Studies of brain injuries involving the left or right hemispheres show striking differences between men and women in brain organization for motor and speech functions. Women tend to use both brain hemispheres more equally than men. Note the recovery of Rep. Gabby Gifford! A man with penetrating right brain injury probably would not have as outstanding a recovery as she has demonstrated.

Some gender differences begin emerging as early as age 3, and are apparently triggered by hormonal influences that are replicable in animals.

For example, as women’s monthly estrogen levels fluctuate, spatial abilities are reduced — yet other functions, such as articulation and motor skills, improve. Men seem to have seasonal fluctuations.

Women seem to have more discriminating perceptions in settings involving human interaction.

Given this sensitivity, are women more easily derailed by their emotions when performing a task, such as flying a plane or serving as president? In my clinical work, I find that emotions derail men and women from tasks in about the same frequency and intensity — yet men have a slight advantage in these respects.

Boys labeled as delinquent tend to have frequent anomalies in their visual-perceptive abilities (e.g., difficulty in reading), while delinquent girls show fewer difficulties of those types but are more anchored in issues arising from dysfunctional relationships.

Why are woman unequally represented in various professions? Vocational interests, cultural expectations, cognitive skills, values, priorities, physical differences and chance all converge to influence the level of success in a field. Unfortunately, girls learn early in life not to appear too smart or too ambitious, lest they alienate some other girls or potential mates. As adults, they will experience what’s called the minority bias — that is, they have to work harder to be viewed as equal.

Based on my observations and research, we would not expect men and women to be equally represented in all professional fields, especially sub-specialties in math and science. In the future there will be more women than men represented in the medical diagnostic field and other applied specialties because their skills of perception are marginally superior to men’s. Female doctors show more empathic behaviors early in their careers — yet interestingly, after 10 years in practice, become more similar to men.

Men might dominate more theoretical dimensions of particular math- and science-based professions because their mathematical reasoning skills are more impressive. Yet other potent factors influence upward mobility. Men have dominated the registration rolls of inventions at the U.S. Patent Office, suggesting that patterns of interest shape how we invest our talents.

Differing patterns of intellectual abilities between the genders are more impressive than are any differences in levels of intelligence. These patterns will, if left unhindered by bias, produce under-representation or over-representation of men and women in particular fields. Vocational success will ebb and flow in response to economics, expectations, abilities, interests and perceived needs.

Finally, there are what appear to be innate cognitive skills differences between men and women that allow them to address problem-solving and interpersonal situations differently. Both genders enter the arena of ideas with a unique stance. These skill differences suggest that a division of labor in male and female roles has served a survival function for thousands of years.

As we evolve and are influenced by culture and economics, we will find new adaptations in the workplace and on the playground. Competence will ultimately prevail, in work and at play.

Timothy Forester of Eugene is a consulting psychologist, now semi-retired after 30 years of experience diagnosing children and adults.

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